Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The sound of Silence
Saint Sister in good Shape for the upcoming release of their debut album
Haunting vocal harmonies and clever fusion of traditional folk and minimalist electronica struck a chord with Irish audiences, who have watched Saint Sister grow steadily.
Following the success of their breakout EP, Madrid, the Northern Irish duo are now poised to release their highly anticipated debut LP Shape of Silence.
Their new offering boasts bigger vocal performances over a mature soundscape.
Gemma Doherty and Morgan Macintyre spoke to The Beat ahead of its release next week.
“We’re excited now to just get it out there,” said Gemma.
“It’s nice that it’s tied in with a tour, that’s what we’re focused on now really.
“With the record you know we’ve done all we can so you kind of just of have to let it go, the shows are where it comes to life so that’s where our energy is focused now.
“At the time, I think we were just going with it and were so excited to get gigging so that gave us a really nice start to the whole thing.
“It’s been quite a gradual build from a time when Madrid came out which I think has been really good for us.
“It’s helped us settle in to what it is that we want to say and what we’re about.”
It’s been a busy couple of years for Saint Sister who have put together an album while fulfilling extensive live commitments.
Some two million streams on Spotify in Madrid’s first year as well as daytime playlisting on BBC radio 1 propelled them to a European tour with Lisa Hannigan and a single via Communion Singles Club.
“Because of all the live dates we didn’t have a lot of time to sit down and write this record,” explained Morgan.
“A number of opportunities came about at the time when we were supposed to be writing which we couldn’t turn down.
“For example, we toured with Lisa Hannigan which was an amazing experience.
The 12 tracks on Shape of Silence are steeped in a sense of longing.
The band hail from different parts of Northern Ireland (Belfast and Derry), yet they both talk about growing up with a yearning for an intangible sense of ‘Irishness’ and a romanticised, idealised vision of what it might feel like to live in the cobbled streets of Dublin.
“We both moved to Dublin at the same time,” said Gemma.
“Our paths didn’t cross for a couple of years, but when they did, we both knew what it felt like to live in a place that you had dreamt up in your head, only to realise that people don’t quite understand the place where you’ve come from, and that the longing isn’t necessarily reciprocated.
“Although we didn’t grow up together we shared a lot of the same experiences, it felt like having a childhood friend who knows everything about your family.”
Gemma explained that coming together as relative strangers to create Saint Sister together meant that there were no obstacles in the way of their creative process.
“We clicked very early on and
because we didn’t have a lot of history together there was no need to tiptoe around a friendship, it was very easy to create together.
“It was clear we were both looking for the same thing and were ready to both throw ourselves into something.
“Our friendship came out of that”. The duo are careful to maintain their individuality within the band, most obviously manifested in the way they write music.
“In terms of our writing process we tend to do that part of it separately,” explained Morgan.
“We both have very clear roles within the band and because of that it’s easier to do that individually before coming together.
“We did actually take a week to go to Donegal together and write but it didn’t actually work, we ended up just staring at each other, watching David Bowie documentaries, cooking and drinking wine.
“Within two two days of us coming home we both took some time to write by ourselves and very quickly came up with the foundations for Tin Man.”
So what can fans expect from the new record?
“There are some very introspective songs on there,” said Morgan.
“Songs in which we gave ourselves the space to experiment and use textures we hadn’t used before, but then we’ve also got a few songs that are much poppier than anything we’ve released up until now.”
“We wanted to make an honest record, hopefully people will hear that when they listen to it.”
‘Although we didn’t grow up together we shared a lot of the same experiences, it felt like having a childhood friend who knows everything about your family’
saint Sister release Shape Of Silence October 5 before embarking on the Irish leg of their world tour which begins at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre on October 11. Tickets are available through the usual outlets.